“You can imagine she's worked hard and I love her for it. She's worked hard and raised a family on her own and I'm so proud of her for it. I'm so thankful that she's kept us alive,” Phan said.
Phan said like her older brother, she completely depends on scholarships and financial aid to pay for college. The tricky part is how competitive those scholarships are, even if you have good grades.
Applying for that money can also feel like a full-time job.
“For every scholarship you apply for, I've probably applied to maybe like 100 scholarships,” Phan said.
Phan said she almost wondered how she would get through the rest of college without going into major debt until the new endowment money from the UT system became available.
"I have been taking like the cheapest options to save money as much as I can. And I'm still struggling to help pay this off,” she said.
But now, the path is much more clear for Phan and so many other students who won’t have to worry as much about the money.
"Having a peace of mind of having that money is just going to really help them focus more on studying and the academic aspect of college,” she said.
Phan is on track to receive the new benefits starting this fall for her sophomore year.
As the Blaze Forward program grows, UTA officials hope to cover tuition for more than 4,600 students a year.
“We want to make a UTA education even more attainable and give strong financial assurances to families and students in need,” said Teik C. Lim, interim president. “By devoting more of our resources toward the success of our students, we’re investing in the future of our University, and in the promise and potential of thousands of talented current and future Mavericks from North Texas and beyond.”
The new Promise Plus funding from the UT system applies not just to new students, but current students.
Only full-time, undergraduate students who are Texas residents, fill out the FAFSA and qualify for need-based aid are eligible to receive Promise Plus funds. Individual institutions may have additional criteria and will be determining how many students will be served by the Promise Plus funding. Check with your school's financial aid office for more information.
If you're not attending a UT system campus, check with your school's financial aid office for financial aid options. Many campuses are involved in the Texas Grant, which is open to students at any public university in Texas. Read more information about that program online.
"UTA and many colleges and universities are going to be committed to students that may not meet these criteria though, too. So though this is a wonderful program, and it will guarantee tuition and fees, we also have very robust financial aid and scholarship programs in our university," Johnson said. "An important message is that others don't need to feel left out necessarily. They may not get this exact program and their financial support may be a little bit different, but we're going to be working as much as we can to be sure that the affordability is there for talented students."
